GCC Summit to Discuss Regional Issues, Middle East Peace

Published August 24th, 2000 - 02:00 GMT

Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will meet in Riyadh on September 1st to discuss holding an emergency Arab summit, the Middle E

Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will meet in Riyadh on September 1st to discuss holding an emergency Arab summit, the Middle East peace process and regional issues, reported the daily Gulf News, quoting an official at the GCC's secretariat.

While the GCC states support holding an Arab summit, still they fear that raising points like bringing Iraq back into the Arab fold in the summit may "harm the unity of the Arab ranks," said the senior GCC official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The current developments on the Palestinian-Israeli peace track and the Israeli designs on Occupied Jerusalem impose themselves on the upcoming GCC meeting," he said.

Saudi Arabia and Syria have pushed for such a summit, but Egypt has been hesitant saying an agenda would have to be fully discussed to ensure the success of the summit, said the daily.

The summit "requires good preparation and a clear agenda previously agreed upon by the kings and presidents," the GCC official said.

Kuwait said recently it does not object to attending an Arab summit, but it did not elaborate on a possible participation by Iraq, which was not invited to attend the last summit held in 1996 in Cairo, added the daily.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Iraq would take part in any summit but he said that Baghdad has not been consulted about the holding of a summit.

The GCC official said the foreign ministers in Riyadh would also discuss the border row between Iran and the UAE over three UAE islands occupied by Iran, added the paper.

The GCC last year formed a committee comprising Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to pursue the issue and try to mediate a peaceful solution to the problem - Albawaba.com